THE MAKING OF A TEAM

TEAM MEETING

I met with the sixteen team members of a group that will be visiting Canaan later this year. There are four married couples, several family units, three young children and some teenagers. Six of them have been to Haiti before, five of them at Canaan. Most of them are people I know, this is a good team.
We want our teams to be more than good we want them to be prepared, effective, to have a meaningful experience and be used by God. This team started coming together in January, the roster is filled, their tickets bought and last night we had our first meeting, it was two hours long. We will probably have one more meeting before they come to Haiti. There will be lots of e-mail contact as we work through project details and maybe a special ministry or special event they may want to put together.

This team isn't different than any of the others we bring to Haiti. We like to be involved with all our teams long before they arrive in Haiti. Good teams don't become effective teams upon arrival it starts months before they board the plane. This Sunday I have a meeting with another team that will come in early January 2010. A week ago I met with a team that is organizing for a November visit. We are working with an Illinois group for this summer.
The point of all of this planning is good sense for not only us as a mission but you who come work with us. We depend on your help, prayers and support for what we do as missionaries. You place your confidence in us as you leave your comfort zone and step out to join God in what He is doing. We need each other that's why we spend so much effort in planning and preparation, we think it pays off. In God's love, steve

THE GREAT RACE

Liz when she lived at Canaan

I first met Liz Froba back in March of 2007 when she came and worked at Canaan for several months. That same year she traveled with a group of Canaan students to the A.C.E. Accelerated Christian Education convention in Flagstaff, Arz. before heading home for the summer. Then till last Fall she worked at a youth camp called Young Life in Windy Gap, N.C.
In October of last year Liz signed up to be a part of (team leader) The Great Race 2009. She and her team along with other teams are traveling around the globe visiting about 10 countries in ten months. Haiti was added to the list of "Race Countries" this year and Liz and her team were able to actually come and stay with us at Canaan for 3 weeks. Since then they have been in Thailand and Cambodia and will visit at least 5-6 more countries before getting home in November.
The following "You Tube" video was put together by her after leaving Haiti in February. I think it is worth sharing as she has a wonderful talent for capturing and expressing her love for missions on video. In God's love , Steve

Liz Froba Haiti Slideshow

BEACHES

SOME OF MY FAVORITE BEACHES

Canaan is located on a hill just three quarters of a mile off the Caribbean Ocean. Just about anywhere your at on the property you can see the beautiful blue waters off shore. Some of the most beautiful beaches in Haiti are up and down the coast from where we live.
Beach resorts with names like Wahoo Bay, Kaliko, Moulin Ser Mer and Club Indigo once lured travelers from the U.S. and Europe to their fine beaches, restaurants and hotels. The only foreigners that come now are U.N. personnel, wealthy Haitians and missionaries. There is hope that when the new improved roadway is completed and if the country continues to stay calm that the tourist once again will find Haiti's beaches a vacation destination.
Those who come to work with us at Canaan almost always get an opportunity to visit at least one of the three beaches that I take teams to. These beaches aren't resorts so we don't have to pay to get in, they are private so we usually have them all to ourselves. We usually take along some of the kids from Canaan when we go. Almost always we play games like keep away or volleyball, occasionally we have a cookout, sometimes an evening beach fire and sing along but for sure we have a good time every time.

GREAT NEWS FOR CLINIC

AWESOME CONCERT


The RAISE THE ROOF CONCERT IV is now history and this year's event a record breaker, please read the previous blog post from Talk of the Town our local online newspaper. We expect when all the checks come in this week we may surpass $13,000.00 coming close to doubling last years concert which itself was a record in 2008.
Fund raising aside what is truly awesome is how inspiring the 2 hour concert was to all those who attended. People were honestly moved by the music, songs, mime, videos, pictures and testimonies. People have come up to me over the last several days to tell me how "inpired, uplifted, and moved" they were from the concert.
I think the highlight was when I was joined on stage by Sally Tomcik from Bear Lake Community Church. She emotionally shared her testimoney from her recent visit to Canaan with the audience. Many people have expressed what a personal moment it was to hear and feel her compassion and passion for the patients who come to seek help at our present clinic. I know what she had to say was not only God inspired but came from her heart.
With the money we have received over the last 14 months we are very near to reaching the goal of our estimated construction costs. Please continue to pray that the funds come in to see this project is completed. Hopefully by midweek we will have a PayPal donation button on this site to enable us to receive online donations for the clinic and other projects. In God's love, Steve

GOD IS GOOD

Raise the Roof IV raised $12,300 for Haitian mission, organizers elated
By Jennifer Zartman Romano

Raise the Roof IV, a fundraiser to support mission work in Haiti through Go And Produce (GAP) Ministries, was held Saturday night at First Church of God. Musicians and vocalists presented a dynamic evening dedicated to raising funds and awareness of the plight of those living in poverty-stricken areas of Haiti.
On Monday morning, John Alcock, one of the event’s planners, was pleased to share the news: the event which set records in 2008 had again far exceeded anyone’s expectations and raised $12,300!
Organizers were thrilled to have raised $7,000 at the Raise the Roof concert in 2008.
“That will go a long way in Haiti,” Alcock said. “I’m astounded.”
The funds will be used toward continued construction of a medical facility near an orphanage in Haiti. Alcock said the long-term goal is that the medical facility might eventually become a hospital, but he’s not sure when that might happen.
Local residents have been engaged in significant mission work in Haiti for the past several years, making what they believe will be a lasting impact on the community there. Over 100 local residents have gone to Haiti with Steve Mossburg to complete numerous projects there.
“God is good. (The medical facility) will touch a lot of lives in Haiti,” he said.
Will there be a Raise the Roof V?
“We’ll continue to pray about it,” Alcock said. “Each year it gets better and better. People see the need and they attend.”
Athelcock was unable to determine what the exact attendance was, but it was estimated to be around 400 people.
DVDs of the performance on Saturday night are being created now and will be available soon through First Church of God. For more information about the DVDs or to make a personal contribution to the project, contact First Church of God at 244-5959

AN EVENING WITH FRIENDS

Paul, Amy, Travis and Mark at Canaan.

God continues to bless us with wonderful friendships through our work in Haiti. Yesterday Shirley and I had the fun of hosting some of our GAP-Haiti connection friends for an enjoyable evening of Creole cooking and converation. Lately Shirley has been intensifying and honing her Haitian Creole cooking skills as she gathers recipes for a Creole cooking book. Though this is a great way to get some feedback our main interest is in promoting the growth of missions.

Travis and Amy Turk who along with Mark Pohl recently returned from a visit to Haiti were here with us last night. Also able to attend were Haitian Erve Joseph who is attending college here in Indiana and my cousin Doug Walker. The Turk's and Mark are planning another trip yet this year possibly around Thanksgiving week. Unlike their other trips to Haiti this time they are building a team from within their church small group .

Doug who along with his wife Amber are Erve's host family here in the states will be traveling to Haiti in December. He has made numerous mission trips to work on a varied of projects with G.A.P. Ministry over the years. This trip he is teamed up with 15 others from our home church, The First Church of God Columbia City.

Besides these two teams we have inquiries and the possibility of three other teams maybe coming on mission trips this year. If anyone reading this blog has an interest in joining a team or forming one they can visit www.gap-haiti.com website and download much of the team applications, guidelines and contact info needed to inquire about a visit. In God's love , steve

EARTH DAY

STILL BEAUTIFUL STILL TIME.

Yesterday marked the 4oth anniversary of what has become know as Earth Day. The idea for this global holiday was first suggested by John McConnel at a U. N. conference on the environment in 1969. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson took the lead in organizing what was in the early years know as an "Environmental Teach In" at college campuses across the U.S. That first Earth Day attracted some 20 million people with the goal of promoting a healthy sustainable environment. It is recognized as the beginning of the modern environmental movement.

He chose the week of April 19- 25 as the best possible week in the Spring. A midweek date because it didn't interfere with other college activities, thus April 22nd. Though I don't think this played any role at all the man most consider the first environmentalist, Saint Francis of Assisi was born on that date. He is known as the Patron Saint of animals and the environment.

His attitude on the natural world was conventionally Christian. He believed the World was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the sin of man. He preached to man "the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God's creation and as creatures ourselves".

Forty years later this global celebration know as Earth Day attracts some 500 million participants in 175 countries. It is somewhat disappointing to me as I was on one of those college campuses for the first Environmental Teach In, that it has taken this long to move to where we are now . Much of our attitude for the environment still isn't tied to what St. Francis called our duty to God but our concern for our wallets (the high price of everything due to depletion and shortages).

There is no better example of what happens to a country and it's environment through greed and shortsightedness than Haiti. It was once the most prosperous and richest colony in the New World today it is on the brink of economic and environmental devastation. The reason I write about this today is that G.A.P. Ministry's Feet Across The Mountain outreach is involved in agriculture, reforestation, clean water and other environmental projects in the mountains of Haiti. I have been researching and talking with other like minded organizations working in the country and it is encouraging that there still might be enough time to turn things around. If your praying for our G.A.P. Ministry work in Haiti please pray that God will bless the work we are engaged in there.

THE ROAD TO CANAAN

'Raise the Roof' concert will raise funds for local residents' continued work on medical facility in Haiti

(Photo and graphic provided) Above, local residents are proud of the work they've completed thus far in Haiti, including the church they constructed in the lower right corner of this photo. Below, the poster below for the concert can be found at locations across Whitley County in hopes of breaking last year's Raise the Roof record attendance.

–By Jennifer Zartman Romano

On Saturday, April 25, at 7 p.m., ten area musicians and vocalists, most of whom you’ll know or recognize, will use their God-given talents to improve the lives of those less fortunate many, many miles away.

For the fourth consecutive time, First Church of God will be hosting “Raise the Roof,” a praise and worship concert to benefit the construction of a medical facility at an orphanage in Haiti – a mission near and dear to the hearts of not only the musicians and vocalists participating in the event, but for many Whitley County residents as well.

The concert, organized by vocalist John Alcock, will feature interpretations of God as presented through music, video and testimonials.

The concert is free, however, Alcock and others are hopeful that attendees will feel moved to make a contribution to help continue the amazing work being completed in Haiti by local residents through the Partners in the Journey Haiti Outreach and, more specifically, the Go and Produce (GAP) Ministries, an initiative developed by Steve Mossburg of Whitley County. Over the years, Mossburg has led many, many mission trips to Haiti, personally lending an hand in poverty-stricken areas.

Last year’s Raise the Roof concert was attended by approximately 500 people and raised a record-setting $7,000 to support the medical facility project in Haiti. Close to 100 local residents have accompanied Mossburg in completing projects in Haiti over the past several years, thereby developing lasting contributions to the health and well-being of those living nearby.

First Church of God is located at 1200 West Depoy Drive on the west side of Columbia City, just south of US 30.

For more information or to make a personal contribution to the project, contact First Church of God at 244-5959.

Posted by jennifer321 on April 15, 2009 10:55 AM | Permalink

RAISE THE ROOF

THE NEW CLINIC

This Saturday evening what seems to have become an annual event for G.A.P. fund raising will take place at my home church here in Indiana. I'm of course talking about the 4th Raise the Roof Concert that a G.A.P. board member and his musician friends started back in 2005. This concert has become a well attended event to raise funds for specific ministry projects that G.A.P. go and produce Ministries supports in Haiti. Once again this year we will be raising financial support for the on going construction of the new Canaan Community Clinic building.

At last year's Raise The Roof Concert we weren't thinking of building a new clinic but rehabing the two small stuctures we had been using. Within a several month period of the 2008 concert God had multiplied the clinic construction fund four fold, this encouraged us to rethink our plans to His much bigger plans. In the year an a half since we have opened the clinic we have seen as many as 50 patients in the four hour period it is open each day. When the American doctors come every other month the patient numbers double. We also run an infant nutrition center for malnourished babies at the clinic two days a week.

With the funding we have raised to this point we are well pass the half way point to reaching the estimated budget amount we need to complete this project. If God blesses as abundantly as he did last year we will soon reach our goal.

IT TAKES TWO FEET TO WALK

WHY PRAY ? a must read

Since my return home last week I've started reading a wonderful little book by John DeVries titled "Why Pray?" . This is one of those seemingly popular in 40 days type of things. Somehow I got messed up today and skipped from day 4 to day 8 and missed three days. I plan on going back tomorrow and getting back on track. Quite possibly God really wanted me to read todays reading for yet some unknown reason instead of on Friday, that's why I'm sharing it with all of you.

I'll be honest with you, I really struggle with prayer. I wish it was easy for me but it's not. I wish I prayed often and regularly but I can easily get sidetracked during a day of being occuppied with what I consider important things to do. I once heard it said if the Devil can't make you sin he can keep you busy , either way he keeps you from fulfilling the purpose God created you for.

GAP go and produce Ministries recently started a new outreach called Feet Across the Mountains as the name implies this minsitry involves lots of walking. That's why today's reading hit home with me, of all God's creation we have a special relationship with Him. We were made to walk with God and communicate with Him through prayer. Prayer is the first part of that process of walking. Think what happens if you plant one foot firmly on the ground and move the other, you proceed to move in a circle. Your working hard but getting no where vour still in the same place as you started.

God gave us two spiritual feet for our walk with him prayer and work . One without the other is not completing the relationship. If you are close to God in prayer then He will give you work to do but if you are unwilling to do the work he will eventually give it to others who are using both feet. On the other hand some of us try to do it all by work. Basically we rely on our own efforts when were not using prayer. We are missing out on the reason God wanted to use us in the first place , having a relationship with Him. Most often we aren't even in the place or purpose God created for us. It takes two feet to walk with God, prayer and work . In order to get anywhere, especially where God wants us, we need to use both feet.

THE FUTURE IS NOW

Erve Joseph (l.) and Edgard Milace (r.)

This morning I dropped Erve Joseph off at his college class, this is something my wife and I do every other week when we are available. Erve is from Haiti and at 23 is one of Canaan's first generation of students and the second to attend college in the U.S. Erve has been here since last summer and is in his second semester at Indiana Tech college in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Later on after he gets some of his basic classes out of the way he will transfer on to possibly Indiana Purdue University Fort Wayne or maybe a college in another state, he hopes to go to medical school eventually.

Erve is a very bright student and at this point is maintaining straight A's in his classes, to me he represents the future of Haiti . Every since I went to Haiti 10 years ago I have heard the argument that we shouldn't encourage the flow of Haiti's best and brightest. I don't agree.

If Haiti is to ever change for the better we need to concentrate on the three E's, Education

Economic expansion and entreprenerual development . Young people like Erve have the best chance of implementing these changes.

Several years ago he told me if he ever had the opportunity to acheive his dreams of a college degree and became a doctor he wanted to make the same opportunity available to others in his country to reach out for their goals. Many times on my travels to and from Haiti I have talked to Haitians who have the desires and sometimes the means from having been in America to start up businesses, to teach, to doctor, to build factories, to be engineers and all the other things it takes to move forward and develop a country. That to me is the hope for Haiti.

AN AWESOME GOD

The Bear Lake team

When I set up G.A.P. go and produce Ministries back in 2002, I already had enough mission field experience to realize how visits to a mission field impacted lives. One of the unique aspects of our ministry is that I often personally get to be a part of those experiences from start to finish with our teams that go to Haiti.

I'm directly involved with our teams from the time they inquire about a mission trip to Haiti (the team building phase) through their arrival and week long visit in Haiti ( the mission trip phase). What is more unique about our ministry is that we also are often involved in the two other phases of short term missions after teams return home.

These are (the sharing and testimonies phase) where the teams share their experiences with the rest of the church, and the how do we get involved and help phase (when churches become known as mission minded churches). This morning one week after their return from Haiti my wife and I got to participate with our most recent team from Bear Lake Community Church ,Indiana as they shared with others how the recent trip had impacted their lives.

I often hear how these teams went to Haiti with the intent that they are changing lives, sharing love, starting or finishing projects and building the kingdom of God and that they do. The one consistent thing I hear the most during these testimonies is that they have returned home with more blessings than they ever imagined, with more than they possibly left behind. Isn't it amazing how God rewards our unselfish efforts of love.

HAITI PROJECT NEARING COMPLETION

On Friday April 10th I took my team of 28 people from Bear Lake, Indiana to hike up to the Feet Across the Mountains work project in the Mountrouis River Corridor. I hadn't been up there myself in 10 days so I was eager to see what progress had been made on the road to Frettas. Being Good Friday and a national holiday weekend the crew wasn't working. I was amazed at how much progress had been made in my absence. The road is now passable for at least one vehicle in all but one short spot. Here there is still a very large boulder that narrows the road down to about 4-5 feet of width. The workers are still very enthusiastic about finishing the work and excitement and pride is building in what they have accomplished working together for the good of the community. I was told by one of the Bear Lake team members That on the walk back one young man explained how important the completion of the road was to the communities in the mountains that depended on it. I know on an earlier survey we conducted on a Montrouis market day I was suprised at what we heard. Many of the people are walking from villages as far away as 10-11 miles to get there produce, grains and livestock to market. Then they return in the afternoon with what they purchased or traded for to their homes in the mountains. It is still often difficult to imagine that in this day and age this story is repeated in the lives of so many all around the world. Thanks to the supporter's of Feet Across the Mountains for helping us accomplish this project. In God's love, steve

SIGNS OF SPRING

Well as you may have guessed from yesterday's blog Shirley and I got home on Tuesday afternoon. Our arrival back here at our home in Indiana was one day past schedule but at least we arrived here safely. Tuesday was a miserable day with 40 degree weather and rain, Wednesday started out gray but by late afternoon the sun was out and it was a short sleeves day. Today is one of those days if you live in the Midwest that you just have to say "wow this is awesome" and think that Spring may soon be here to stay. The daffodils, crocuses, tulips and spring flowering shrubs are coming to life in all their Spring glory. The robbins are back and along with the overwintering birds are singing up a storm, what a wonderful wake up call in the morning. The buds on the maple trees are bursting and soon the leaves will pop out. The most dependable sign for us who live at Tri Lakes, Indiana is the arrival of the loons. They arrive here in late March and stay several weeks before moving on North to Michigan and Canada for the summer. We see them again in the Fall as they fly back the other direction signaling the approach of Winter.

My wife loves Spring as for me I agree it has it's beauty but too often it teases us with it's hope of better things (weather) to come and here in Indiana so often falls short of delivering on that promise till Summer arrives. Life is often compared to the seasons, with Spring representing that period of youth when we all have that promise of great things to come after all we are God's creation and he places that potential in all of us, Eph. 2:10. Myself rather than looking at life as a cycle that mimics the beginning and ending of the seasons, I rather think that life is like the trees, flowers, shrubs, and birds that I'm so enjoying this morning. That our lives mimic the seasons on an annual basis instead of lifetime. That each year we start with the promise of great things to honor and bring glory to God in. Possibly we will fall short like the weather in Indiana often does. Yet like nature we can recover in time to get back on track to producing the fruit God intended for our lives this year. In God's love ,steve

WALKING THE WALK

I don't know what it is about flying put it seems to bring the worse out in some people. I wouldn't classify myself as a frequent flyer put I do fly at least 5 times each year and I'm on 30 different flights. Monday and Tuesday were some of those flights, we were actually scheduled to be home on Monday evening but our plane taking us home arrived in Port au Prince 1.5 hours late. We did get as far as Dallas, Texas where the airline had to put us up in a hotel a real blessing when your schedule doesn't go as planned. I'm also always thankful when I'm delayed because of mechanical problems or bad weather usually 2 major causes of crashes.
Yet over the years I have been witness to lots of bad behavior from my fellow flyer's when airlines are doing their best to provide them the safety they expect and take for granted. Even if they had a legitimate reason to be so angry they always take it out on the persons just doing their job who have no control over the situation. I always wonder how many of these people who are being so rude and nasty in public profess to be Christians?
Which takes me to this thought we Christians are all missionaries whether we intend to be or not we bring people to Christ by our positive actions of love or drive them away from Christ because of ways unbecoming of our Christian faith. Difficult times should bring out the best in a Christian " the problem with problems is they're rarely seen as the opportunities God intends for us" a Dave Davison quote .